Pharmacy-Benefit Managers Under Pressure

American Express, Coca-Cola and others team up to try to cut high drug prices. Shares of Express Scripts, CVS, UnitedHealth are at risk.

By

Bill Alpert

July 23, 2016

High-priced drugs have everyone ticked off this year. And for good reason. While health-care spending in the U.S. is growing faster than the economy, pharmaceutical costs are growing faster still. New treatments for arthritis and cancer certainly merit a premium, but pharmacy bills can’t grow unchecked.

A whole industry exists to keep drug bills in check, of course, namely pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs. Leaders like Express Scripts Holding and the pharmacy-benefit units of CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group have rung...